Yemen’s parliament approves new Cabinet

SANAA: Yemen’s parliament has approved a new government with a comfortable majority following months of violence.

The 301-seat chamber’s vote on Thursday came two days after loyalists of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh derailed a vote of confidence during a raucous session.

The legislature did not release a breakdown of the vote, but more than 200 lawmakers were present and the vote by show of hands suggested a large majority approved the 36-member government.

Yemen has been gripped by a power struggle between President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who seized control of the capital Sanaa in September and are allied with Saleh loyalists.

The Houthis had pressed Hadi to form a new government that would give them more say in the country’s political affairs.